If the stage calls your name, and you're interested in pursuing a degree in one of the performing arts (theatre/dance/music) in California, then this article is for you. I've compiled a comprehensive list of all of the universities and conservatory programs in California that offer performing arts degrees (Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate's).
How to Use This Article
I recommend using this article as a jumping off point to do more research on which performing arts schools are right for you. If you need help with how to identify What College Should You Go To? How to Choose a College, check out our other article. Consider what you are looking for in a performing arts college:
- Are you looking for a conservatory? Or are you looking at a program at a four-year university with other non-art related majors?
- Do you want to be in a city or a small town?
- Do you want a big or small program?
- Do you want a BA, BM or BFA? MA, MM, or MFA? PhD or DMA?
- How much can you afford to spend? Will you get financial aid?
In this article, I'll list every school, location, tuition price, and degree programs offered. I am only including schools that offer Bachelor's Degrees or higher. I have included the degrees because the schools offered varied performing arts degrees (this way you can find the school that offers the degree you want).
Each school offers a slightly different curriculum for their specific performing arts degree, so I encourage you to click on the links for the major to explore the curriculum for that specific program at that school. First, here is the list of schools (scroll further down for the list of schools plus the location, tuition price, and degree information):
- American Academy of Dramatic Arts
- Azusa Pacific University
- California Baptist University
- California Institute of the Arts
- California Lutheran University
- Chapman University
- CSU, Chico
- CSU, East Bay
- CSU, Fresno
- CSU, Fullerton
- CSU, Long Beach
- CSU, LA
- CSU, Stanislaus
- Dominican University of California
- Humboldt State University
- Occidental College
- Pepperdine University
- San Diego State University
- San Francisco State University
- San Jose State University
- Stanford University
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of California, Davis
- University of California, Irvine
- UCLA
- University of California, San Diego
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- University of California, Santa Cruz
- University of San Diego
- University of Southern California
List of Performing Arts School in California in Alphabetical Order
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Tuition: $37,575 per year
Degree Programs:
- Associate of Occupational Studies: Two-Year Program
- Certificate of Advanced Studies in Acting: For Third Year, after completing Associate
- BA or BFA Degree: offered in conjunction with these universities
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St. John's University: students who complete their two-year AOS (Associate in Occupational Studies) degree may transfer up to 60 credits toward a Bachelor of Science degree in Television and Film Studies at St. John's University.
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Hunter College: Students entering Hunter with an AOS degree from The Academy will receive 27 credits toward a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre at Hunter College.
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Antioch University Los Angeles: Academy students can enter Antioch with as much as half of their coursework toward a BA in Acting and Dramatic Arts degree completion. Students who complete one year at The Academy may also transfer their coursework credits of C- or better. The Academy Alumni are also eligible to participate under the terms of this agreement.
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Oklahoma City University: Students complete the full-time Conservatory Program at The Academy in New York City or Los Angeles and transfer to OCU in Oklahoma City for their last two years to receive a BFA in Acting.
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Azusa Pacific University
Location: Azusa, CA
Tuition: $42,900 per year
Degree Programs:
- BA in Theatre Arts
- BFA in Acting for the Stage and Screen
California Institute of the Arts
Location: Valencia, CA
Tuition: $53,466 per year
Degree Programs:
- BFA in Dance
- MFA in Choreography
- BFA, MFA, DMA in Music Performer-Composer
- BFA and MFA in Music Composition
- BFA and MFA in Jazz Studies
- BFA and MFA in Winds
- BFA and MFA in Brass
- BFA and MFA in Percussion
- BFA and MFA in Guitar
- BFA and MFA in Harp
- BFA and MFA in Piano/Keyboard
- BFA and MFA in Strings
- MFA in African Music and Dance Program
- MFA in Balinese and Javanese Music and Dance Program
- MFA in North Indian Music Program
- BFA in World Music Program
- BFA in Experimental Pop
- BFA and MFA in Music Technology Program: Interaction, Intelligence and Design
- BFA in Musical Arts Program
- BFA and MFA in Voice Arts
- BFA and MFA in Acting Program
- MFA in Directing Program
- MFA in Writing for Performance Program
- BFA and MFA in Scene Design Program
- BFA and MFA in Costume Design Program
- BFA and MFA in Lighting Design Program
- BFA and MFA in Sound Design Program
- BFA and MFA in Technical Direction Program
- BFA and MFA in Management Program
California Baptist University
Location: Riverside, CA
Tuition: $37,018 per year
Degree Programs:
- BA in Theatre
- BM in Composition
- BM in Instrumental Performance
- BM in Music Education
- BM in Piano Performance
- BM in Vocal Performance
- BM in Commercial Performance
- BM in Studio Production
- BA in Music for Worship Arts and Ministry
- BA in Music
- BM in Songwriting
California Lutheran University
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
Tuition: $46,012 per year
Degree Programs:
- BA in Church Music
- BA in Composition
- BA in Music Education
- BA in Music Technology
- BA Musical Theatre
- BA in Music Performance
- BA in Technical Theatre
- BA in Theatre Performance
Chapman University
Location: Orange, CA
Tuition: $58,634 per year
Degree Programs:
- BA in Dance
- BA in Music
- BA in Theatre
- BFA in Dance Performance
- BFA in Theatre Performance
- BFA in Screen Acting
- BM in Music in Composition
- BM in Music in Performance
- BM in Music in Pre-Music Education
CSU, Chico
Location: Chico, CA
Tuition: $7,864 per year ($19,744 for non-California residents)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Theatre
- BFA in Musical Theatre
- BA in General Music
- BA in Music Education
- BA in Recording Arts
- BA in Music Industry
CSU, East Bay
Location: East Bay, CA
Tuition: $6,995 per year ($18,875 for non-California residents)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Acting
- BA in Dance
- BA in Music
- BA in Theatre Arts
CSU, Fresno
Location: Fresno, CA
Tuition: $6,653 per year ($18,533 for non-California residents)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Music
- MA in Music
- BA in Theatre Arts
- BA in Dance
CSU, Fullerton
Location: Fullerton, CA
Tuition: $6,976 per year ($18,856 for non-California residents)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Theatre
- BFA in Theatre Arts: Acting
- MFA in Theatre Arts
- BA in Dance
- MFA in Directing
- BFA in Musical Theatre
- MFA in Design & Technical Production & Direction
- BM in Music: Composition
- BM in Music: Accompanying
- BM in Music: Voice
- BM in Music: Keyboard
- BM in Music: Jazz and Commercial Music
- BM in Music: Instrumental
- BA in Music History and Theory
- BA in Music Education
- BA in Music: Liberal Arts
- MM in Music
- MA in Music
CSU, Long Beach
Location: Long Beach, CA
Tuition: $6,846 per year ($18,726 for non-California residents)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Dance
- BFA in Dance
- MA in Dance
- MFA in Dance
- BA in Theatre Arts, Technical Theatre (Scenery/Costume/Lighting Design)
- BA in Theatre Arts, Performance
- BA in Theatre Arts
- BFA in Acting
- MFA in Theatre Arts, Technical/Theatre Design
- MFA in Theatre Arts, Acting
- MBA/BFA in Theatre Management
- BA in Music
- BM in Music Education (Instrumental or Choral-Vocal)
- BM in Music Performance
- BM in Music Composition
- BM in Music History and Literature
- MA in Music
- MM in Composition
- MM in Composition with Interactive Technology
- MM in Conducting, Instrumental or Choral
- MM in Jazz Studies
- MM in Instrumental, Piano, Opera, or Vocal Performance
CSU, LA
Location: LA, CA
Tuition: $6,785 ($18,665 for non-California residents)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Music
- BM in Music: Composition, Jazz Studies, Performance, Music Education, or Commercial Music
- MA in Music
- MM in Music: Composition, Commercial Music, Conducting (Instrumental or Choral), Performance, Afro Latin Music, or Music Education)
- BA in Theatre: Performance or Design and Production
- MFA in Television, Film, and Theatre: Acting
- BA in Theatre Arts and Dance: Theatre Performance, Theatre Design and Production, or Dance
CSU, Northridge
Location: Northridge, CA
Tuition: $7,043 per year ($18,923 for non-California residents)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Music Education
- BA in Music Industry Studies
- BA in Music Therapy
- BA in Breadth Studies in Music
- BM in Orchestral Strings Performance
- BM in Classical Guitar Performance
- BM in Winds Performance
- BM in Percussion Performance
- BM in Keyboard Performance
- BM in Vocal Arts
- BM in Composition
- BM in Commercial and Media Writing
- BM in Jazz Studies
- MA in Music Industry Administration
- MM in Composition
- MM in Conducting (choral or instrumental)
- MM in Collaborative Piano
- MM in Performance
- BA in Theatre
- MA in Theatre
CSU, Stanislaus
Location: Stanislaus, CA
Tuition: $7,644 ($19,524 for non-California residents)
Degree Programs:
- BM in Music Education - Choral
- BM in Music Education - Instrumental
- BM in Instrumental Performance
- BM in Jazz Performance
- BM in Piano Performance
- BM in Vocal Performance
- BM in Composition
- BA in General Music
- BA in Theatre Performance
- BA in Technical Theatre
Dominican University
Location: San Rafael, CA
Tuition: $49,821
Degree Programs:
- BA in Music
- BFA in Dance
Humboldt State University
Location: Arcata, CA
Tuition: $7,684 per year ($19,744 for non-California residents)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Dance Studies
- BA in Music Composition
- BA in Music Education
- BA in Music Studies
- BA in Music Performance
- BA in Theatre Arts
Occidental College
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Tuition: $59,970 per year
Degree Programs:
- BA in Music
- BA in Theatre
Pepperdine University
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Tuition: $59,702 per year
Degree Programs:
- BA in Music
- BA in Theatre Arts
- BA in Theatre and Screen Arts
- BA in Theatre and Music
Pomona College
Location: Claremont, CA
Tuition: $58,818 per year
Degree Programs:
- BA in Dance
- BA in Theatre
- BA in Music
San Diego State University
Location: San Diego, CA
Tuition: Undergraduate $8,174 ($11,880 for non-California residents)
Degree Programs:
- BFA in Dance
- BA in Dance
- BA in Music
- BM in Composition
- BM in Music, General Track
- BM in Global Composition
- BM in Jazz Studies
- BM in Music Education
- BM in Performance (Brass, Percussion, Piano, Stringed Instruments, Voice, or Woodwinds)
- BM in Professional Studies
- BM in Music Entrepreneurship and Business
- BM in Music Recording Technology and Audio Design
- MA in Music
- MA in Ethnomusicology
- MM in Performance (Brass, Percussion, Piano, Stringed Instruments, Voice, or Woodwinds)
- MM in Composition
- MM in Conducting
- MM in Jazz Studies
- BA in Theatre Arts: Performance, Youth Theatre, or General Theatre Arts
- BFA in Theatre Arts: Acting
- MA in Theatre Arts
- MFA in Theatre Arts: Acting
- MFA In Design and Technical Theatre
- MFA In Musical Theatre
San Francisco State University
Location: San Francisco, CA
Tuition: $7,522 ($19,364 for non-California residents)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Dance
- BA in Music
- BM in Music
- MA in Music
- MM in Music
- BA in Theatre Arts
- MA in Theatre Arts
San Jose State University
Location: San Jose, CA
Tuition: $7,899 ($19,732 for non-California residents)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Dance
- BFA in Dance
- BA in Music
- BM in Composition
- BM in Jazz Studies
- BM in Music Education
- BM in Performance
- MM in Music
- MA in Music Education
- BA in Theatre Arts
Sonoma State University
Location: Rohnert Park, CA
Tuition: $8,060 ($19,940 for non-California residents)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Dance
- BM in Performance
- BM in Jazz Studies
- BM in Music Education
- BA in Music
- BA in Theatre Arts: Acting, Technical Theatre, or Theatre Studies
Stanford University
Location: Stanford, CA
Tuition: $57,693 per year
Degree Programs:
- BA in Music
- MA in Music, Science and Technology
- DMA in Composition
- PhD in Computer-Based Music Theory and Acoustics
- PhD in Ethnomusicology
- PhD in Musicology
- BA in Theatre & Performance Studies
- PhD in Theatre & Performance Studies
University of California, Berkeley
Location: Berkeley, CA
Tuition: $14,226 (California resident) $43,980 (non-resident)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Dance & Performance Studies
- BA in Music
- MA/PhD in Composition
- MA/PhD in Scholarship
- PhD in Ethnomusicology
- PhD in Musicology
- BA in Theatre & Performance Studies
- PhD in Performance Studies
University of California, Davis
Location: Davis, CA
Tuition: $15,274 (California resident) $46,300 (non-resident)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Music: Composition, History, Theory, Ethnomusicology, or Performance
- MA in Music: Composition/Theory, Musicology, Ethnomusicology, or Conducting
- PhD in Music: Composition/Theory, Musicology, or Ethnomusicology
- BA in Theatre and Dance
- MFA in Dramatic Art
University of California, Irvine
Location: Irvine, CA
Tuition: $16,246 (California resident) $47,271 (non-resident)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Dance
- BFA in Dance: Performance or Choreography
- MFA in Dance
- BA in Music
- BM in Performance: Piano, Vocal, Instrumental, Jazz Studies, or Guitar and Lute
- MFA in Performance: Instrumental or Vocal
- PhD in Integrated Composition, Improvisation and Technology
- PhD in History and Theory of Music
- BA in Drama
- BFA in Music Theatre
- MFA in Acting
- MFA in Directing
- MFA in Stage Management
- MFA in Design
- MFA in Music Direction
- PhD in Drama and Theatre
UCLA
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Tuition: $13,804 (California resident) $44,830 (non-resident)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Dance
- MFA in Dance: Choreographic Inquiry
- BA in Global Jazz Studies
- BA in Music Composition
- BA in Music Education
- BA in Music History and Industry
- BM in Music Performance
- MM in Music Performance
- MA in Music Composition
- MM in Conducting
- DMA in Conducting
- PhD in Music Composition
- DMA in Music Performance
- BA in Theatre
- MFA in Theatre: Acting, Directing, Playwriting, or Production Design
- PhD in Theater and Performance Studies
University of California, San Diego
Location: San Diego, CA
Tuition: $17,361 (California resident) $48,387 (non-resident)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Music
- BA in Music Humanities
- BA in Interdisciplinary Computing and the Arts
- PhD in Composition
- PhD in Computer Music
- PhD in Integrative Studies
- DMA in Performance
- BA in Theatre and Dance: Theatre or Dance
- MFA in Acting
- MFA in Directing
- MFA in Stage Management
- PhD in Theatre
University of California, Santa Barbara
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Tuition: $14,985 (California resident) $46,011 (non-resident)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Dance
- BFA in Dance
- BA in Music Studies: Ethnomusicology, Interdisciplinary Studies of Music, or
- Western Art Music
- BM in Music: Bassoon, Cello, Clarinet, Double Bass, Flute, French Horn, Oboe,
- Percussion, Piano, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba, Viola, Violin, or Voice
- BM in Music: Composition
- MA in Music: Composition, Ethnomusicology, Musicology, or Music Theory
- MA/PhD in Music: Composition, Ethnomusicology, Musicology, or Music Theory
- MM in Performance
- MM/DMA in Performance
- DMA in Performance
- BA in Theatre
- BFA in Theatre: Acting
- MA/PhD in Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies
- PhD in Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies
University of California, Santa Cruz
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Tuition: $14,070 (California resident) $43,824 (non-resident)
Degree Programs:
- BA in Music: Contemporary Practices, Global Music, or Western Art
- BM in Performance: Vocal or Instrumental
- MA in Composition
- MA in Ethnomusicology
- MA in Cross-Cultural Musicology
- MA in Performance Practice
- DMA in Composition
- PhD in Cross-Cultural Musicology
- BA in Theatre Arts
- MA in Theatre Arts
University of San Diego
Location: San Diego, CA
Tuition: $54,554 per year
Degree Programs:
- BA in Music: Performance, Music Theory, Composition, Music History and Culture, or Music Education
- BA in General Music
- BA in Theatre Arts
- MFA in Dramatic Arts
University of Southern California
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Tuition: $63,468 per year
Degree Programs:
- BFA in Dance: Performance, Choreography for Stage and Screen, Dance & Music, or Design Your Own Concentration
- BM in Choral Music
- BM in Classical Guitar Performance, Piano Performance, Organ Performance, Popular Music Performance, Strings Performance (Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, Harp), Vocal Arts, or Winds and Percussion (Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Saxophone, French Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, or Percussion)
- BM in Composition
- BM in Jazz Studies: Instrumental and Vocal
- BM in Music Production
- BS in Music Industry
- MM in Choral Music
- MM in Screen Scoring
- MM in Classical Guitar Performance, Piano Performance, Keyboard Collaborative Arts Performance, Organ Performance, Strings Performance (Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, Harp), Vocal Arts, or Winds and Percussion (Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Saxophone, French Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, or Percussion)
- MM in Sacred Music
- MM in Composition
- MM in Jazz Studies
- MM in Teaching and Learning or Popular Music Teaching and Learning
- MM, Community Music
- MS in Music Industry
- MA in Early Music Performance
- DMA in Early Music Performance
- DMA in Music Teaching and Learning
- DMA in Sacred Music
- DMA in Classical Guitar Performance, Piano Performance, Keyboard Collaborative Arts Performance, Organ Performance, Strings Performance (Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, Harp), Vocal Arts, or Winds and Percussion (Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Saxophone, French Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, or Percussion)
- DMA in Composition
- DMA in Jazz Studies
- PhD in Musicology
- BA in Theatre: Acting, Comedy, or Design
- BFA in Musical Theatre
- BFA in Acting for Stage and Screen
- BFA in Theatrical Design
- BFA in Sound Design
- BFA in Stage Management
- BFA in Technical Direction
- MFA in Acting
- MFA in Dramatic Writing
What's Next?
Learn more about acing the SAT and ACT to help you get into a performing arts college. Check out our ultimate SAT study guide and learn how to cram for the ACT.
Interested in performing arts colleges in other places? Check out our list of performing arts colleges in New York!
Thinking about getting a job while in high school? Check out our guide to the 8 best jobs for teens and learn how to find yours!
